Inanimate (35 page)

Jacobs
interjected.

“
We’ll
have to act fast to avoid more
collateral damage. Say one of them was attacked in a gas station
for example, the attendant could be at risk.”

“
That’s why I suggest I go alone,
you four go in pairs, I
’ll give you simple directions to where you have
to go and the rest will be signposted.”

“
Ok,
sounds good, Sergeant Jacobs and I
will go together.” MacNamee responded.

Both Murdoch and Graham
nod
ded in
agreement. The group prepared to go their own separate ways. Oates
started telling each pair where they should go to find their first
name on the list.

“
Ok, Doc, Sergeant, you two
head down to…”

Before he could finish he was interrupted
by a banging on his office door followed by a figure barging in
uninvited. Matthew almost fell straight to the floor, tired scared
and in pain from making the journey to the station on foot, despite
his cut leg.

“
Sheriff!
” he cried out, of breath. “There’s
been another murder!”

Dora was quick to follow behind
him.

“
I’m sorry Sheriff he just barged
right through.”

Oates gestured to Dora that it was ok as
the two detectives help Matthew to a chair.

“
Christ
Matthew
, are
you alright?”

Oates
looked at the bed-headed Bizet,
sloppily dressed with a large dark spotted on his deliberately torn
blue jeans where his leg bled.

“
I saw it Sheriff...” he
paused as he still
could not remember her name. “A bunch of soldiers killed a girl I
was with last night. Not real soldiers, but they were alive. They
were the kind I used to play with as a kid! Then some dummies
almost killed me! Can you believe that? Some fucking dummies! I
only half believed Tony when he said the thing that killed Earl was
like a toy, but I sure as shit believe it now.”

Oates
picked up his phone and dialed an
internal line, it rung for a few moments before being picked
up.

“
Dora, call the coroner, tell him
to get ready, another body will be coming in soon.”

Dora
was not used to the recent
promiscuity of requests for calls to the coroner and it showed in
her voice.

“
Ok Sheriff, I’ll let him
know.”

Oates
hung up and looked at
Matthew.

“
I’m sorry for your loss Matthew
but we
have
no time to mourn. The fact that you’re here means we have one less
person to look for”

“
Why would you be looking
for me?”

“
Sergeant Jacobs
will explain it to
you in the car. Since you know your way about town you’re going to
help him find the other people on our list. Do you want me to take
a look at your leg before you go?”

Oates asked the question forgetting
MacNamee was a doctor. It was his station and Matthew should be
under his protection.

“
No
, it’s alright” said Matthew “I’ll
survive.”

“
Ok, good
” continued Oates “Doc, you and me
will go to Matthew’s house, to see if any of those little toy
bastards are still there. Detectives, you two follow us, when I
make sure the coast is clear, I’ll call in some of my boys to take
care of the body and we’ll continue our search. Sergeant Jacobs,
you and Matthew are going to head into town, get to the church in
the main street and then call me or MacNamee and I’ll give you
directions to one of the names on the list. I need to think about
who would be the quickest to find. But I can do that one the
move.”

Jacobs
was not used to being ordered around
like this, but the Sheriff’s plan was pretty sound so he nodded in
agreement.

“
Alright guys we know what we
were all doing so let’s get it done, we don’t have a lot of time
here.”

Oates
took point, heading out into the main
hall where other cops looked on as the group headed out. Jacobs
leaned in to Oates.

“
Sheriff, when
are you going to
clear out the station, the other cops can’t be here when we have
everybody rounded up.”

Oates
turned to him while
walking.

“
Once we
have cleared Matthew’s house I’ll
send the of them over. The rest I’ll have patrolling the streets
and answering other calls. I’ve already arranged to have a floor in
the hospital serve as a temporary station for them. It’ll just be
us in here.”

Jacobs
wasn’t sure whether that statement
comforted him or made him more nervous. Just before they could
leave into the sunshine drenched courtyard Dora halted
them.

“
Sheriff!”

Oates
turned round to see what the problem
was.

“
What
is it Dora?”

“
I
couldn’t get ahold of Murray.”

“
Did you call his
office?”

Dora
nodded.

“
It just rang
out.”

The ominous tone in her
voice
prompted Oates to turn to Jacobs with a look, instantly
conveying an unspoken message.

“
We’ll go check it out” the
Sergeant
said
before turning to Matthew “Come on kid, you can show me the
way.”

CHAPTER 33

Connor was in the relaxation
room of Hallcombes with Doctor Frieda. Frieda, who only found out
not so long ago that with Crass and MacNamee gone, he would be the
boy’s primary carer. Still terrified of the boy Frieda was simply
there to observe, not interact with the child. As Connor read
silently the doctor tried to figure out what he was thinking.
Memories of the little moments the two of them had shared over the
last few days came into his mind; the way he stared at Frieda, the
comments about this thing known as Dixie and that kissy face he
made when MacNamee was on his rampage. All of these incidents and
more were rattling around in his brain. As he watched the child,
thinking about the way he proved the other doctors lack of respect
for him, self-loathing started to take over and not for the first
time. The truth that he was an awkward adolescent himself (with
major self-esteem issues) was known to no-one. Since joining
medical school his self-worth had increased exponentially and when
he graduated top of his class, memories of his gloomy youth had
begun to fade. But now, thanks to his dealings with the boy, these
feelings were surfacing once again. As Connor read, Frieda stared
into his face, lost. He poured over the boy’s dealings with the
other doctor’s and the cops. He thought about how everyone was in
the loop except him and everyone knew it. He touched upon a
niggling thought that told him he was a joke to everyone. Connor
had brought up this point, but really the seed had been planted
years ago, all Connor did was water it. His paranoid mind starting
to expose itself he started thinking of facts to reinforce this
thought, as if hating himself was not enough, his self-depreciating
side actually tried to prove it. He recalled looks people gave him
over the years, words they said and twisted those memory fragments
into something negative. His brain took trivial details and turned
them into negative points. He convinced himself casual looks people
gave him were actually contemptuous ones; suddenly those innocent
glanced had voices and those voices had insults and jibes. He
started to piece together a jigsaw of depressive memories in his
mind. Connor truly was in his head and he knew it, but did that
mean the boy was wrong. The old cliché of
“just because you were paranoid
didn’t mean the world wasn’t out to get you”
rolled around in his brain. It
was strange the doctors did not tell him about the video, or Dixie,
or the fact they believed Andy’s death was actually a murder. He
had thought about this a lot; in fact it was all he thought about.
When Connor Williams decided he was going to toy with Frieda he
pulled on a string, a string that was still pulling, unraveling the
fabric of the life he had worked so hard to create. Single, Frieda
always told himself he was too busy with the hospital to go on
dates or even go out and meet friends. But somehow others managed
it. He could understand MacNamee being married, a guy as good
looking as him did not stay single for long but Crass? “The guy was
a dinosaur!” he thought to himself. Before Frieda could get too
heated he felt a gaze. Lost, staring through Connor he noticed the
boy was now staring back at him. Jolting himself into life he tried
to act unafraid.

“
I need to go to the
bathroom
.”

Frieda
cleared his throat.

“
Go ahead” he
said, knowing full well that it
was against policy to let a patient go alone but now he was the
primary boy’s doctor and was the one who made the decisions.
Besides, he didn’t really like the idea of being in an enclosed
space with Connor and the bathroom was an extension of the
interview room so it wasn’t like he would be going far. The boy put
his book down, he got up and strolled to the bathroom, once he was
out of sight Frieda released his breath.

Connor
stood at the trough. The bathroom was
immaculately kept: gleaming white porcelain was surrounded by
pristine tile and one jet-black bathroom stall. Although hospitals
of any kind were required by law to be up to code when it came to
cleanliness, Doctor Crass always took it to the extreme. He
believed bathrooms were the first port of call for infection so he
made sure all of his were spotless. After finishing his business,
Connor moved to the sink to wash his hands, something his father
taught him was very important. A light behind him started to waver,
slowly pulsing on and off for a few seconds before the bulb popped,
instantly turning a whole corner of the windowless bathroom black.
In the mirror Connor watched a figure materialize, outline first in
the darkness. Stepping into the light slightly “The Eye” looked
directly at him.

“
Hello Connor
.”

“
Hello
.”

“
The Eye”
smiled warmly. “Our little friends
are doing well, taking the town apart one person at
time.”

“
Yes. But
they
know now. I think they’ll try and stop
them.”

“
The Eye”
chuckled. “Let them try. The only
thing more terrifying than not knowing what’s in the shadows is
knowing
exactly
what’s there, watching you. Oh and Bear? Where did he get
jaws like that? Was that your idea?”

Connor
blushed and looked at the floor
smiling.

“
Yes, I thought it would be a
nice touch. It’s kind of a shame though because I
like
d Doctor
MacNamee. I’ll almost feel bad when he’s gone.”

O
utside, Frieda thought Connor was just
talking to himself, but now he could hear a distinct two-way
conversation going on. He crept up to the door and stood outside,
listening.

“
The Eye
,” looking dapper in his pinstripe
suit smiled.

“
And what about
Fried
a? That
guy is terrified of you. And rightly so.”

“
I haven’t decided yet, it’s
clear the other doctors didn’t think enough of him
to involve him in
their lie, he’s fun to play with though. I actually feel bad for
him, he’s such a loser, maybe I’ll kill him and put him out his own
misery.”

“
The Eye” noticed Connor started
using “I” instead of “we” which is exactly what he wanted. The boy
had taken all responsibility, working completely independent of
outside help.

“
It’s your call Connor; if you
don’t want to use your minions I have another tool at your
disposal. Dixie is always hungry.”

Connor
smiled as Frieda sat up against the
door with tears streaming down his face. He had heard just about
all he could take of this.

“
I’ll leave you now Connor, I’ll
be back soon.”

“
The Eye”
raised his hand dramatically like the
illusionist he was and then swept it over his body and face,
erasing his earthly image from sight. Frieda sucked up some courage
and boldly pushed open the bathroom door to find Connor standing
alone.

“
Um, who are you talking to
Connor?”

“
No-one”
Connor shrugged.

“
But...I heard someone say my
name.”

“
No you didn’t
.”

Connor
smiled and walked past him. Frieda
looked around the bathroom but there was nobody there.

CHAPTER 34

“
Ok Doc, wait here a
minute”

Oates
said to MacNamee, aware he had
probably never operated a firearm in his life. Oates took point
once more as he tried the handle on the front door, finding it
locked. Stepping back a little he landed a hard size ten just
beside the handle, then another, and another.